The Manhattan Homologue

Explorations of Manhattan's present and future real
estate market based on current observation and past
events.

WOW, VOWs!, transparency
and a coming Real Estate Revolution in NYC

11/09/09

Throughout the country
for over four decades, real estate firms and
individual brokers have openly shared their listing
information with one another through Multiple Listing
Services. Each in turn has shared this information
with his or her customers and clients. By reviewing
the database, client and broker, broker and customer,
have met with quick and genuine success following
this method. During most of this time the NYC real
estate community seemed to lag behind. Many resisted
attempts to establish an MLS which would fulfill the
need for a more efficient model and help those in
quest of greater transparency in NYC real estate
rentals and sales. Recently, efforts have been made
to rectify this situation both with the establishment
of a quasi-MLS (called the RLS) whose participants
are members of The Real Estate Board of New York, and
even more recently by formally defining a VOW
(Virtual Office Website) format to be used by any
member who wishes to offer their clientele the
benefits particular to this online software.
Specifically, with a VOW, any client or customer who
properly registers with the VOW hosting broker is
given access to the same full database the brokers
have used when searching listings. This database has
not been available in this manner to the
non-professional until very recently and is the
result of a judgment handed down by the Department of
Justice late last year.

It shouldn't be forgotten that brokers are service
providers, licensed by the State to serve both buyer
and seller, fiduciary to one, honest presenter to the
other, and a professional resource for both. We are
vendors with no personal inventory. We are here to
assist others in the commerce of real estate. Today,
with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies that
facilitate better communication, collaboration,
interoperability and secure information sharing over
the World Wide Web, transparency and the benefits it
provides should be enthusiastically offered. It
shouldn't be feared, except by the less competent.
The knowledge and abilities a good broker brings to
the selling process are complex, esoteric and too
often unrecognized. For a fledgling broker the first
few years are usually dedicated to learning what not
to do -- no easy task. This in turn is requisite for
the experienced veteran but still doesn't guarantee
they now know what to do. I've heard many so called
top and senior broker's say "you can't 'sell' real
estate, the stakes are too high, the principals too
immersed in the serious nature of what's happening to
allow themselves to be diverted in any way. You can
only try to find what they say they want and make a
match." If this were the case (and for those who
believe it is) transparency is indeed, a death knell.
But for those who know their craft, little threat
exists. I've personally experienced few sellers and
buyers who really know what must be known to achieve
the best sale, or find the best purchase. They often
don't know how to recognize and then circumvent or
minimize the negative effects heuristics and
cognitive biases can have on reaching a proper
decision. They have difficulty removing the
unnecessary hurdles that may exist as part of one's
personal psyche. Too often they are unaware of how
these factors along with different cultural
conventions and unfamiliar customs are crucial
determinants when communicating and negotiating with
their potential counterparty. They may lack access to
data supporting their position, or, if they do have
access, are still unaware of salient information that
has been omitted, is proprietary, or has been
un-procured. They do not maintain a pool of pertinent
resources that can only be acquired over time, and by
a professional who's made it a full time job to do
so. These resources may include the most potent
venues for advertising; the most effective tools for
presentation; social connection; systems for
distributing and promoting information to other
external groups and communities; and outside contacts
offering recondite expertise. If merely buying and
selling defined success, we as brokers would indeed
be superfluous; but if our clients and customers are
interested in getting the most for their property and
finding the best property within their parameters, we
are essential to the process.

So, it's back to transparency, and bringing it to one
of the most sophisticated cities in the world.
Personally, I see no problem with the Efficient
Market Theory as a utopian notion, but in a practical
sense I've learned there are just too many preserved
secrets to make it a reality. However, it's clear we
can benefit from pursuing its tenets. If, in the
digital age, we choose to adhere to old conventions
and avoid embracing MLSs, IDX's (Internet Data
Exchanges) and VOW's, our credibility as good service
providers is at risk. Each of these tools offers us a
chance to better serve the public and ourselves, and
to best represent our profession as one worthy of
consideration and respect.

(A VOW will be available at this website shortly, we
hope you will revisit us and join the revolution).
--Leigh Zaph. (any comments can be
emailed to us atwebitorials@manhattanhomesinc.com,
thanks).